We're off to see the wizard

I actually feel like I've accomplished a lot the last couple days. My house is mostly clean. All the kids bedrooms are clean and vacuumed, my room is clean, my bathroom is immaculate (which almost nver happens), laundry is almost finished, my dishes are all but done, just one load to put in and start and then it'll all be done and nothing dirty left in the house. Pretty much the only thing I have left to do is to straighten the living room and dining room, clean the kids bathroom, which isn't too bad, and then pack the boys and myself and then pack it all in the car. We leave in the morning shortly after Josh gets home from work and I'm exhausted. I think I'll just get it all ready and stick it by the door so he can help me load it up in the morning. Anyway, I'm off to finish up and I'll try and update along the way.

Busy

This week has been so busy and a little bit stressful. It turns out that everybody got this flu bug, except for me. I don't know how I managed to avoid it because I'm usually the first person to catch whatever it is because I have this low immune system or something. I have had a cold though, but I can handle that much better than I can the flu. I think the weirdest thing is that all the kids got this flu bug but it only lasted for about 8 hours and then they were fine and going crazy and driving me nuts again. They had the diarrhea for a couple of days but seemed to be able to get by alright with it. Then, a couple days later, they all got lethargic again and started vomiting for another 8 hours or so. What kind of flu acts like that? It was so weird. Anyway, it's done and gone now and everybody seems to be feeling much better. It's a good thing because the only thing I accomplished last week was cleaning up after their vomit and changing sheets, etc. My poor house suffered more than I wanted it to but we've fixed that this weekend for the most part.

This week is going to be a bit more stressful. We leave for vacation next weekend and we'll be gone for a month. I have most everything for the actual trip done but now we have to clean and pack. That means making the house clean enough that when we come home we won't be disgusted to be here, making lists of things to do and things to pack and all that fun stuff. I'm anxious to go and we'll be able to say that we've been to all the Australian temples but 1 when we get back. We have a bunch of activities planned that we've looked up online and made lists of possible things to do in each place. It'll be a fun trip and memorable for all of us, it's just all the stuff you have to do to get ready that can be bothersome. That's alright, it's all worth it in the end. So, I'm off to make some lists and then pack lunches so the kids can eat at school tomorrow.

Good Days

There are days when I end the day thinking "gosh, my kids must think I'm a big, mean ogre" or that I really had a bad day. Most days have the sort of an ending where I lost my temper or did or said something that I'm sure my kids or husband weren't happy about. Then there is the occasional day where I put the kids in bed and sit down to think"gosh, that was a good day".

Today was one of the latter. Even though I was awakened last night to give cold medicine to a sick kid (that Josh had just bitten his head off for waking HIM up), the kids woke me up earlier than I would normally like to have woken up, there was no school today for an Australian public holiday but Josh still had to work, we started having a flu bug through the house about lunch time and, even though I got to lay down for a nap with kids today, I got awakened 4 times to deal with vomitting kids or cleaning up the vomit that was spilled from the "throw up bucket" and onto a bed. Somehow I was able to deal through it all and was even patient and didn't yell at anybody for anything too miniscule today. Somehow I didn't mind having to get up to deal with kids while I was sleeping (I am normally very grouchy when they wake me up from a deep sleep). And, even when Josh came home in a bad mood, it still didn't phase me the way it normally would. I got some cleaning done today, did some dishes and even had plenty of computer time and got to talk on the phone to family for a couple of hours to boot.

I wonder sometimes what it is that makes the difference, why it is that I can sometimes deal through all of the chaos and not have it phase me, when most of the time I get really frustrated or lose it. I don't pretend to understand it all but am really thankful when a day ends the way it has today and hope and pray that tomorrow can be just as nice.

Happy Birthday to Rebekah!

From then.....

to now.....

Rebekah is 4 today. I can't believe it most days. Sometimes it's the wonder that she's 4 already and other days it's that she's only 4. She acts so much older and is so smart. She can be such a little spark of sunshine one minute and then a little terror the next. She is definitely a girl-and isn't that what I asked for? I went into labor with her while we were going to a session at the temple and all of the temple workers were freaking out and wondering what they could do to help. Little did they know that being where I was was an answer to prayers because it meant a 5 minute drive to the hospital instead of an hour to 2 hour drive. I remember having her and the wonder of holding her little tiny and new body in my arms. She was a good little nurser and was definitely Mamma's girl (and still is most days). I'm so glad that the Lord sent her to me and, even when she's throwing her tantrums and fits (which is most of the time lately) she knows that I still love her and wouldn't give her up for anything. Happy Birthday Rebekah!